Beginning last fall and ending this spring, the three dioceses of Nebraska participated in an educational and healing project called VirtueMedia. This is the third time in five years that the dioceses of Nebraska have participated in this wonderful and effective pro-life project.
According to its website (www.virtuemedia.org), "VirtueMedia™ is a Christian values-based not-for-profit that uses highly creative advertising to create proven-effective, compassionate and educational pro-life commercials through efficient stewardship backed by collaboration with crisis pregnancy centers, Right to Life groups, and churches."
VirtueMedia’s goal is "to provide compelling information through the mass media, to help encourage parents to choose life for their babies. Additionally, we hope to educate our culture, so that more people will fully support the sanctity of all human life."
Last fall, information about VirtueMedia was presented to parishioners by their bishop, either in the form of a DVD presentation or in the form of a letter. Those who saw the DVD presentation got a preview of the amazing VirtueMedia commercials. Donation envelopes were distributed to parishioners at that time.
As a result of these presentations, Nebraskans donated more than $93,000 to this project. This total included $9,000 from the State Council of the Knights of Columbus which was similarly generous in our previous VirtueMedia initiatives.
As a result of VirtueMedia’s ad-buying expertise, these funds purchased nearly 1,900 ads in most of the major television markets in Nebraska. That’s an astonishing number of ads and at a cost of less than $50 per ad.
The initial plan was to feature three of VirtueMedia’s ads in this media buy: a post-abortion ad, a crisis pregnancy ad and a general sanctity of life ad. All of these ads can be viewed online at www.virtuemedia.org.
Based on VirtueMedia’s advice, we decided to focus the entire ad buy on the post-abortion ad. VirtueMedia’s judgment was that given the amount of money we had to spend, it would be more effectively utilized focusing on one message rather than diffusing it among three different messages.
The ad, called "post abortion healing" features several post-abortive women communicating powerful messages about the pain and trouble their abortions caused them. The ad concludes with a group picture of these and other post-abortive women saying:
"You see, abortion didn’t solve our problems, it just created different ones. That’s why we are silent no more. We found help and healing, and you can too. Call or go online to 1-866-88-WOMAN or www.silentnomoreawareness.org."
As a result of these ads, nearly 400 post-abortive Nebraskans responded by calling or going to the website. Although we don’t know the ultimate outcomes of those 400 inquiries, it is our hope and prayer that their inquiries began the process of spiritual and psychological healing through Project Rachel or other post-abortion ministries.
On behalf of the bishops of Nebraska, I extend my deepest gratitude to all individuals and the Knights of Columbus who contributed so generously to this effective educational and healing initiative.
You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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